French Patent Application Nr. 8606281 of Apr. 30, 1986 describes a glycoprotein extracted from hemocyanin of Megathura crenulata, denoted in short as "KLH" and its oligosaccharidic epitope. It is shown in this patent that said glycoprotein has the same antigenic properties as the 38 KD antigen isolated from the surface of Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula and that the 38 KD antigen of the schistosomulum and the hemocyanin of Megathura crenulata both contain the same oligosaccharide which is the oligosaccharidic epitope aforementioned, which is recognized by a protective monoclonal antibody as being the epitope responsible for the antigenic power of the schistosomulum 38 KD antigen and of KLH, the protective monoclonal antibody being obtained from the IPL Sml hybridoma identified in the said french patent Application.
It is an object of the present invention to determine the chemical structure of the glycoprotein and of its oligosaccharidic epitope identified in the abovementioned french patent application and to enable its synthesis to be carried out.